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''Alphabravocharliedeltaechofoxtrotgolf'' is the first album by Australian new wave group
Models A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided int ...
. The title alludes to the first seven letters of the
NATO phonetic alphabet The International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet or simply the Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet, commonly known as the NATO phonetic alphabet, is the most widely used set of clear-code words for communicating the letters of the Latin/Roman ...
. The title also refers to the designations of the natural divisions in the 12-note Western music scale in the key of 'C'. The LP album cover claimed it was produced by ''no-one'', in fact, it was recorded independently by engineer
Tony Cohen Anthony Lawrence Cohen (4 June 19572 August 2017) was an Australian music record producer and sound engineer. He worked with Nick Cave's groups the Birthday Party, and then the Bad Seeds from 1979 to 2001. In mid-1986 he followed Cave to Lond ...
and the group, prior to signing with
Mushroom Records Mushroom Records was an Australian flagship record label, founded in 1972 in Melbourne. It published and distributed many successful Australian artists and expanded internationally, until it was merged with Festival Records in 1998. Festival ...
. It was released in November 1980, but no singles were released commercially from the album, although "Two People Per km²" and "Uncontrollable Boy" were on a 12-inch disc released to radio stations, and a
music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
was made for "Two People Per km²". The album was re-released on CD in 1990.


Background

Models had formed in
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
in 1978 by former members of Teenage Radio Stars and
JAB A jab is a type of punch used in martial arts. Several variations of the jab exist, but every jab shares these characteristics: while in a fighting stance, the lead fist is thrown straight ahead and the arm is fully extended from the side of t ...
. Following some line-up changes they consolidated into
Andrew Duffield Andrew Peter Duffield (born 9 February 1958) is an Australian musician, producer and teacher. He has been a member, on keyboards, synthesisers or electronics, for various groups, including Whirlywirld, Models, and Absent Friends. Duffield has ...
on keyboards, Mark Ferrie on
bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...
, Janis Friedenfelds (aka Johnny Crash) on
drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...
and
percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...
, and Sean Kelly on
vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...
and
lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...
. Their first release in October 1979 was a give-away single, "Early Morning Brain (It's Not Quite the Same as Sobriety)" backed with The Boys Next Door's "Scatterbrain". Friction within the band led to their break-up in November, record producers
Vanda & Young Vanda & Young were an Australian songwriting and producing duo composed of Harry Vanda (real name Van den Berg) and George Young. They performed as members of 1960s Australian rock group the Easybeats where Vanda was their lead guitarist and ba ...
asked Models to cut some demos - so they reformed at the end of December. Their second single was another giveaway, "Owe You Nothing," composed of tracks from the Vanda and Young sessions. It appeared in August 1980. In November of that year the Duffield, Ferrie, Friedenfelds and Kelly line-up released Models' first album, ''Alphabravocharliedeltaechofoxtrotgolf'', on Mushroom Records. It peaked at #43 on the Australian albums chart. NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988. The album was well received by audiences familiar with the group from the live pub circuit. No singles were released commercially from the album, although "Two People Per km²" and "Uncontrollable Boy" were on a 12-inch disc released to radio stations, and a
music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
was made for "Two People Per km²". The video was directed by
Ray Argall Raymond Charles Argall (born 31 May 1957) is an Australian cinematographer, director, and editor. His feature film '' Return Home'' (1990) is regarded by many critics as an Australian cinema classic. Argall served on the board of the Austral ...
as part of a short film about the group. The band performed extensively both locally and interstate, supporting the
Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band formed in the New York City neighborhood Forest Hills, Queens in 1974. Known for helping establish the punk movement in the United States and elsewhere, the Ramones are often recognized as one of th ...
and
Midnight Oil Midnight Oil (known informally as "The Oils") are an Australian rock band composed of Peter Garrett (vocals, harmonica), Rob Hirst (drums), Jim Moginie (guitar, keyboard) and Martin Rotsey (guitar). The group was formed in Sydney in 1972 by H ...
on a national tour. Early in 1981, Friedenfelds was replaced by Buster Stiggs from New Zealand band
The Swingers The Swingers were a New Zealand rock band who were together from 1979 to 1982 and whose biggest single was the song " Counting the Beat". Background Formed out of the remnants of the Suburban Reptiles, the founding members were Phil Judd (gui ...
. In June, Models released a 10" album, ''
Cut Lunch ''Cut Lunch'' is a mini-album or Extended play, EP by Australian New wave music, new wave band Models (band), Models, originally released on 10" vinyl by Mushroom Records in June 1981. The collection started off as demo recordings, which proved su ...
'', which consisted of further tracks originally intended as demos, produced by Tony Cohen and Models except one produced by
Split Enz Split Enz were a New Zealand band formed in 1972. Regarded as the first New Zealand band to gain significant recognition outside of Australasia, they were initially noted for their progressive rock, progressive/art rock sound, flamboyant visua ...
keyboard player
Eddie Rayner Anthony Edward Charles Rayner (born 19 November 1952) is a New Zealand musician who spent ten years as a keyboardist in the band Split Enz. He has also played in the groups Orb, Space Waltz, Crowded House, the Makers, The Angels in 1986-1987 ...
.


Recording

Engineer
Tony Cohen Anthony Lawrence Cohen (4 June 19572 August 2017) was an Australian music record producer and sound engineer. He worked with Nick Cave's groups the Birthday Party, and then the Bad Seeds from 1979 to 2001. In mid-1986 he followed Cave to Lond ...
said, "Sessions for the album went on for months. Sean had a terrific ear and could create something out of nothing. An absolute genius. Andrew would get the most bizarre sounds out of the keyboards."


Reception

John di Mase in ''
RAM Ram, ram, or RAM most commonly refers to: * A male sheep * Random-access memory, computer memory * Ram Trucks, US, since 2009 ** List of vehicles named Dodge Ram, trucks and vans ** Ram Pickup, produced by Ram Trucks Ram, ram, or RAM may also ref ...
'' said, "The album is one of my favourites of the year. The spark has been captured on vinyl. The band shows its influences, ska, new wave and electronics. It transcends any one form because of the Models' bold, intrepid approach."


Track listing


Personnel


Musicians

*Sean Kelly –
guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
,
clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...
,
vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...
*
Andrew Duffield Andrew Peter Duffield (born 9 February 1958) is an Australian musician, producer and teacher. He has been a member, on keyboards, synthesisers or electronics, for various groups, including Whirlywirld, Models, and Absent Friends. Duffield has ...
 – keyboards,
EMS Synthi AKS The EMS Synthi A and the EMS Synthi AKS are portable modular analog synthesisers made by EMS of England. The Synthi A model debuted in May 1971, and then Synthi AKS model appeared in March 1972 a with a built-in keyboard and sequencer. The EMS S ...
*Mark Ferrie –
bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...
; vocals on "Pull the Pin" *Janis Freidenfelds (aka Johnny Crash) –
percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...
, traps, syncussion


Technical Personnel

*Producer – no-one; recorded independently by Models with
Tony Cohen Anthony Lawrence Cohen (4 June 19572 August 2017) was an Australian music record producer and sound engineer. He worked with Nick Cave's groups the Birthday Party, and then the Bad Seeds from 1979 to 2001. In mid-1986 he followed Cave to Lond ...
*Engineer – Tony Cohen


References

{{Authority control 1980 debut albums Models (band) albums Mushroom Records albums